Curtain support



.April 1,-1925. 1,533,302

J. H. BoYE CURTAIN SUPPORT Filed Dep. 1, 1922 Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

JAMES H. BOYE, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' CURTAIN SUPPORT.

Application mea December 1, 1922. serial mi. 604,188.

To all 'whom z't may concern: v Be it known that I, JAMES H. Born, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook `and State of I Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain Supports, -o-f which the following is a'speciication.

This invention relates to curtain holders or supports, and, as to its main features, pertains more particularly to curtain holders of that type which hold a curtain, valance, or the like :at both its upper and lower ends; such curtains or Valances being quite commonly used on doors and French windows l5 to form a panel covering.

vIn holders 'of this type wherein the rods are supported by brackets attached in fixed positions to the panel frame, the upper and lower curtain rods are permanently fixed 1 or mounted on the door or window, being spaced at a distance suitable to accommodate the particular length of Vthe curtain when the latter is new and first installed. After' the curtain has been washed one or u more times `it shrinks, and consequently it is then necessary to readjust the rods accordingly. or diiiiculty is experienced in replacing the curtain, the latter is unduly stretched in the operation of replacing it and liable to be torn, and when the curtain is replaced the rods are sometimes more or less bent or bowed out of horizontal position under the tension of the curtain.

An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved curtain holder of this type wherein one or both of the rods, and preferably the lower rod, may be readily adjusted toward or from the other to accommodate the variations in the length of the curtain without the necessity of resetting the rod-supporting brackets on the door or window frame, and with a minimum of time and trouble.

Another object is to provide an adjustable curtain holder of this type characterized by the provision of a vertically adjustable rod engaged with either the upper or lower end of the curtain, preferably the latter, which rod is freely movable either up or down, and is automatically locked against upward movement in any adjusted position.

A further object is to provide an improved bracket to receive and 'support the elbow ends of the curtain rods, which bracket is capable of general application to curtain rods of the hollow type.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated one practical embodiment of the rinciple of the invention; and referring t ere- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the upper portion of a door showing my improved curtain support mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the 'lower left hand adjustable support for the left end of the lower curtain rod, the inwardly turned end of the latter appearing 1n section;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2, as viewed from the right of the latter figure;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 4.4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a further enlarged transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is .a detail elevation of one of the upper rod-supporting brackets in cross-section through the inwardly turned end of the rod on the line 6-6 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of Fig. 6, showing also a portion of the rod beyond the bracket; and i Fig. 8 is an inner side elevation of the to bracket, in section through the bracket telescoping portion of the rod. Y

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates as a whole the upper portion of a door, and 11 the upper panel of the latter that is covered by the curtain. Describing first the lower curtain rod and its adjustable supporting means, 12 and 13 designate co-operating sections of an extensible telescoping curtain rod of the flat type, the same being formed with integral inwardly directed elbow-shaped ends 12 and 13. Attached to the front face of each side member of the frame 10 is a bracket comprising a base plate 14 and a forwardly extending wall 15 provided with an outwardly and rearwardly bent Hange 16 (Fig. 5) on its front vertical edge and a pair of outwardly and forwardly bent short flanges or lips 17 on its rear vertical edge, thereby forming a slideway and guide in which is slidablymounted a vertiare square cal strip or bar 18. This l-atter is formed on its front edge with ratchet teeth 19 that cooperate with an inwardly bent dog or detent 20 (Fig. 4) formed on the lower end of the front guide ange 16.

The lower end of the bar 18 is laterally and outwardly offset, as shown at 21 in Figs. l and 2, and extending forwardly of the 0E- set portion, and integral with the latter, are a pair of fingers 22, over which -is telescoped the inner end of the elbow 12 or 13. In the' cutting ,of .the metal to form the fingers 22,

'the outer edges. of the latter are slightly rounded or convexed, as clearly shoiwn 1n Fig. 8, and the maximum width between the outer edges of the two tingers is slightly greater than the internal maJor diameter of the rod. Moreover, the lingers 22 are of reduced thickness at their bases, whereby,

f lat-tera leaf spring 24, the free end of which extends through a notch 25 in the rear edge of the guide and presses outwardly on the rear edge-of the ratchet bar 18, thereby forcing the toothed edge of the latter toward the f detent 20.- This spring is convenlently and cheaply attached to the base plate 14 by cutting and bending upwardly rom the latter a pair of tongues 26 Fig. 2), inserting the shank of the spring eneath said tongues, and then mashing the latter down on the spring; which operation throws the free end of the spring -forwardly against the rear edge of the ratchet bar.

Where the curtain is so mounted as to be under a slight' longitudinal tension, which is commonly done with pleated curtains to improve the appearance of the latter, the upward pull of the curtain on the lower rod acts automatically to maintain the teeth of the ratchet bar operatively engaged with the detent 20, making the spring 24 unnecessary for this purpose; but to insure the cooperative engagement of the ratchet bar with its guide at all times, the spring is l preferably employed.

In adjusting the device, if the curtain is too slack, the lower rod is simply drawn downwardly, the ratchet bars 18 sliding through their guides until the proper tension is reached, whereupon the lower curtain rod is automatically locked in its lowered position by the engagement of one of the teeth 19` of the ratchet bar with the detent 2O of the guide. If the curtain is too taut, -or when it may be desircdto remove thecurtain, the lower rod is pressedinwardly, releasing the ratchet bars from their locking detents and then raised. It will 4thus be seen that the lower rod is so mounted that it can be raised or lowered at will by mere inward pressure and without having to be' removed from the door or window, and it can also be instantly removed from its supports by simply pulling the ends thereof oii the supporting fingers 22. The device is thus not only vertically adjustable to the ex. tent of the length of the ratchet bars 18-to fit panels of`varying heights, but, when the rods themselves are extensible, as herein shown, the device is also adjustable to panels of varying widths. A wide range 0f adjustment to varying heights and widths of panels is thus rovided for.

It will be noted) the brackets supporting the ends of the upper curtain rod are structurally similar to those supporting the ends of the lower rod with the exception that the sliding rack bars and their guides are omitted and the bracket is formed with an integral base plate 28 attached to the door or window frame by screws 29.

I have herein shown and described one practical embodiment of the invention which has been found in practice to satisfactorily effectuate the stated purposes and objects thereof, but it is manifest that the structural details may be varied within the principle and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of the advantages and utility of the latter. Hence, I reserve all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit and purview of the appended claims.

I claim- 1. In acurtain holder of the type described, the combination of a pair of guides adapted for attachment to a panel frame, a pair of vertically slidable bars mounted in said guides, said bars having outwardly olfset lower end portions carrying rod-supporting devices, a curtain rod formed with rearwardly turned end portions separably engaged with said rod-supporting devices, and yieldable means for lockmg said bars in adjusted posit-ion. in 'said guides.

2. In a curtain holder of the type described, the combination of a pair of guides adapted for attachment to a panel frame and each provided with a detent, a pair-'of vertically slidable bars mounted in said guides and each formed with ratchet teeth, said bars having outwardly o'set lower end portions carrying rod-supporting devices, a curtain rod formed with rearwardly turned end portions separably engaged with said rodsupporting devices, and springs acting on from Figs. 6,7 and 8 that said bars and nrging the ratchet teeth of the latter into co-operatlve engagement with the detents of said guides.

. 3. In a curtain holder of the 'type de- 5 scribed, the combination of a pair of guides adapted for attachment to a panel frame and each formed with an integral inwardly bent detent on the lower end of its forward edge, a palr of vertically slidable bars 10 'mounted 1n saidguides andy each' formed with ratchet teeth on its forward edge said bars having outwardly offset lower end portions carrymg rod-supporting devices, a curtain rod formed with rearwardly turned end portions separably engaged with said rodsupporting devices, and springs bearing on the rear edges of said bars to maintain the ratchet teeth of the latter in co-o erative engagement with the detents of sai guides.

JAMES H. BOYE. 

